This is the right time to make your move!
If you are a qualified homebuyer*, there has never been a better time to buy a home. Homes prices have stabilized and are selling at discounted prices, less than 50% of the former price. They’re selling lower than a builder could possibly build and sell homes profitably.
Interest rates are now at 50 year lows, with no point rates available on 30-year fixed loans for about 4.5%, which makes homes even more affordable. Government-backed loans have become the norm, with FHA becoming the easiest loan for many homebuyers to use. Read the rest of this entry »
Ongoing series: Good things are happening on Mare Island
“This could just be the project that gives hope to the community again . . . a catalyst for a community that is struggling.”
Ship-building and maintenance has been the primary purpose of the Mare Island Navy Base for almost as long as California has been a State, a part of the USA. The Navy historically selected the most premium of sites, to establish bases. They developed the infrastructure, to make it a very useful manufacturing site, to create almost everything needed to build ships. To abandon this infrastructure, to treat is as a museum site, seems wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010
When this new law is fully implemented, it appears that Mortgage Brokers will be limited in what loans they can originate and one wonders if mortgage brokers will even survive this change.
- One of the provisions of the law requires the lender to retain a percentage of ownership, which clearly will not be possible with brokers, but might work with wholesale lenders, where brokers send their loans.
- Another provision sets the compensation to a fixed amount, potentially being so low, it’s not worth doing the job.
- The new disclosure requirements are very cumbersome and most borrowers find them to be confusing.
An overview of this law is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
In an effort to speed up the short sale process, some lenders are choosing to automate the way approvals are given. Bank of America is using a new system to automate the approvals of short sales, called Equator. It uses an Automatic Valuation Model (AVM) like Zillow.com to determine the value of the home, and any offer must match that value to be accepted. As anyone using Zillow knows, AVMs can be fairly inaccurate, often estimating a much higher value than it really is worth. Read the rest of this entry »
Ongoing Series: good things are happening on Mare Island
I was given the heads up about this article in the SF Chronicle about volunteers developing places to explore on Mare Island. It’s surprising this is not a local paper article, but once again, it’s never exotic, it seems, to explore your own back yard. I think it’s wonderful to have these people spend their time and efforts to open up this wonderful place to the public. Read the rest of this entry »
Ongoing series: Good things are happening on Mare Island
Have you seen the classic mansion at 1185 Azuar Drive on Mare Island lately? Steven David, the owner has restored it to its former glory, and it was clearly a labor of love. It towers above the other mansions, with the impressive Roman columns out front, and it features the unique Navy architectural style that was used for officer’s housing.
I talked to Steven recently about all the work that was done on this classic building. Read the rest of this entry »
Ongoing series: Good things are happening on Mare Island
I was recently met Randy, an accountant who is relocating to Vallejo to take a job with ALSTOM on Mare Island. When I asked what the company produced, he said it was high-speed passenger train cars and they export their product all over the world. Apparently, they specifically chose Mare Island because it had rail service to their worksite, so they can send out their vehicles on rails, instead of trucks. Read the rest of this entry »
Ongoing Series: good things are happening on Mare Island
I often meet Vallejo residents who have never been on Mare Island, in spite of the fact that they’ve had unrestricted access for over 10 years. Read the rest of this entry »
An ongoing series . . .
While it is often said that no news is good news, this doesn’t seem to be the way Vallejo residents see it regarding Mare Island’s progress. Many people assume that the shortage of news about Mare Island means that nothing is happening, and that’s not so. Read the rest of this entry »
The Feds & the state are offering buyer incentives
With the announcement of California’s new tax credit, buyers of new homes potentially can get tax credits from both the Federal government and the state at this time. Read the rest of this entry »
